Tuesday, February 3, 2015

A zippy sugar-free 3-bean salad recipe (no artificial sweeteners)

Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad

Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad

This has been a favorite salad of mine since I was a child. My aunt made this salad using regular granulated white sugar. It is really good but I wanted to create a version that does not use sugar. I also use a fresh, healthy oil instead of canola, soy, peanut, or corn oil.

Making this salad yourself is really easy, and now you can control the sugar content. It never is as good in restaurants as when homemade anyway, have you noticed that?

I like to make and have on hand a sugar-free sweetener blend of 50% erythritol and 50% xylitol, which is conveniently used here. Just store in your pantry for quick access.

Combine sugar-free sweetener, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.

Note: For a variation use garbanzo beans.

Enjoy,Leila

UPDATE:I changed the dressing to cut back on the amount of erythritol and xylitol called for. I also varied the vegies used.
Cutting back on the sugar-free sweeteners used saves you money. Plus adding a bit of stevia glycerite to the mix, makes the sweetening blend more synergistic and sugar-like in taste. Trust me, you won't miss the sugar here at all in this recipe!

I used all green beans because I frequently do not have yellow wax beans just hangin' around. The yellow wax beans are my favorite part of the salad though. I used yellow bell pepper for color and for the milder flavor they have. I used both kidney beans and garbanzo beans for more color variety and nutritional purposes. I think this recipe would work fine using fresh green beans too, blanching them first would probably be best.

Do which ever variation you want, they are both good!Alternate Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad Recipe:

Combine sugar-free sweetener, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.

ENJOY!

Mixing the sugar-free dressing.

Three-Bean Salad before tossing together.

Tossed Sugar-Free Three Bean Salad - Ready to marinate.

Variation with thawed frozen green beans.

2nd UPDATE:Here is another option for you. I changed the dressing again, to lower the amount of erythritol and xylitol called for.
I cut back even further the amount of erythritol and xylitol used in the dressing. Doing this cuts down on the possible effects of consuming sugar alcohols. Xylitol, cool as it is, sometimes gives some people a bit of gastric distress. Erythritol is the gut-friendliest of the sugar alcohols, which is great to know. Sugar alcohols are also more expensive than regular white cane sugar, as I'm sure you've noticed.

I chose to add some food-grade vegetable glycerine to the mix. It is naturally sweet, sugar free, affordable, and has a warming effect, which nicely counteracts the cooling effects of the erythritol and xylitol. Vegetable glycerine also gives a nice syrupy glossiness to this salad dressing.

I still add a touch of stevia glycerite. Just so you know, when you blend these sweeteners, they act synergisticly with each other, enhancing each others sweetness. The result is that when combined they taste more like real sugar. And your gut is happier too.

The salad still tastes great with these new adjustments. You can choose any of these dressing variations, they are all good.

As far as the vegetables go, I used a red bell pepper this time. and I think I prefer slightly less onion, So I used a med-large red onion instead of an extra large onion.

So I'm just giving you another option for making this salad, Your'e welcome :)

Combine sugar-free sweeteners, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper and mix until sweetener is completely dissolved (I recommend heating the vinegar mixture in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stirring well and then heating another 30 seconds, and stir again, to help it dissolve).

Add the oil to the vinegar mixture, mix and pour over the vegetables.

Toss well. Chill overnight. Toss again before serving to coat well.

TIP: I like to add 1/2 tsp. Psyllium Husk Powder to the dressing to slightly thicken it.